Matt Smith Selling Fast!

Found this on Northhampton Chronicle: He may have only appeared in the hit series for about a minute so far, but the action figure of the former Northampton School for Boys pupil is selling so quickly, fans are being forced to order the toy in advance or face missing out on the eleventh first official model. Matt's first figure is based on his first appearance in the show on New Year's Day, when he regenerated from Tennant's character.

The model shows him still wearing Tennant's torn suit, rather than the dickie-bow and tweed jacket he is due to wear when the new series of the programme starts in the spring.

While the model is on sale for £8.99 in shops, its rarity means many people who have managed to get hold of the toy are already trying to cash in on its scarcity.

On the internet auction site eBay, the Matt Smith models are currently being traded for between £20 and £30.

Who Movie on the Way?

OK People. Grain of salt time here. I found this on Entertainmentwise.com: Doctor Who has been a big hit in America and producers are hoping to cash in on the interest there with a movie.
However, it is hoped that Billie Piper who played Rose Tyler the Doctor's side kick will be reunited with the Doctor, played by David Tennant in the new film.
A source told the Star: There's been so much interest in Doctor Who since the show was sold to America that a film is the natural progression.
Top of our list is to get Billie on board not only was she amazingly popular, it would be really exciting to get her back with the Doc.
But will she be up for it?...

No More Rose, Says Piper

As if to confirm that Doctor Who is undergoing some major, major changes with its fifth series this year, Billie Piper has revealed that she won't be returning to the series.
The actress, who played the Doctor's companion (and love interest) Rose Tyler throughout the revived series, is busy starring in Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and has no intentions of reprising her role as Rose.
"I think it's done now, isn't it? I think that ship has sailed. That old, wooden ship!" Piper told DigitalSpy.
Read it all here.

And The Winner Are:

J.J. Abrams' Project for NBC

British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw ("Spooks," "Doctor Who") has landed the female lead opposite Boris Kodjoe on J.J. Abrams' UNDERCOVERS at NBC. Abrams and Josh Reims co-wrote the pilot.The project revolves around a domesticated husband (Kodjoe) and wife (Mbatha-Raw) who are re-activated as CIA agents after years of retirement.Abrams also will direct, marking the first pilot he has helmed since LOST in 2004.

New Faces

Are these the new faces of the Silurians? We know from Doctor Who history that the Silurians were the original Custodians of Earth and during a period of great upheavel the race placed themself in suspended animation. Over sleeping and awaking to meet the 3rd Doctor during his exile on Earth in the 1980's. We also learn that the Silurians have an off shoot race that were dubbed Sea Devils, living in the deep reaches of the ocean. See Silurians

So then, can these new faces (If indeed they are the Silurians in the upcoming series) be an off-shoot of the creatures that the Doctor already discovered? Or has the new series simply changed the Silurians for the sake of change? As a fan from the series I meet the look with a bit of excitement and disapointment. I can truely say I was looking forward to the Silurians of old. But with an open mind I am excited that perhaps, (with the Silurians) change might not be so bad.

Silurians

Intelligent reptilian lifeform which ruled the Earth during the Cretaceous (136 to 65 million years BC), and not the Silurian (430 to 395 million years BC). They, and their underwater "cousins", the so-called "Sea Devils", were eventually driven to hibernate in underground shelters by some undetermined cosmic event. Theories about the nature of this event included: a wandering planetoid causing a change in the Van Allen belt; movements of the Moon; departure of Earth's twin planet, Mondas; or possibly the quasi-psychic awareness of the forthcoming crash of a space liner from the future.
The Silurians of Wenley Moor were reawakened from suspended animation in 1971 because of power leaks from the neighboring British atomic research center. The Old Silurian met Dr. Quinn, then the Third Doctor, and became convinced that his people could share Earth peacefully with Mankind. However, the Young Silurian tried to wipe out Mankind with a deadly virus. After that had failed, he and the Silurian scientist, Icthar, attempted to use a molecular disperser to destroy the Van Allen Belt, and thus render Earth inhabitable for humans. Thwarted by the Third Doctor, they returned to suspended animation. Their shelter was then blown up by UNIT.
Icthar survived, and reawakened in 2084 AD. He reanimated a Sea Devil commando, led by Sauvix, and attacked Sea Base Four. His plan was to launch nuclear missiles to provoke a war between the two blocs, and thus eradicate mankind (which had been the Young Silurian's last wish). His efforts were defeated by the Fifth Doctor, who used deadly hexachromite gas to wipe out the Silurians.

Silurian cousins The Sea Devils: Intelligent reptilian lifeform which ruled the Earth during the Cretaceous (136 to 65 million years BC), and not the Silurian (430 to 395 million years BC). They, and their "cousins" the Silurians, were eventually driven to hibernate in underground shelters by some undetermined cosmic event. A commando of Sea Devils awoke from suspended animation in 1973 and began sinking ships in the British Channel. They were contacted by the Master who offered to ally himself with them. The Third Doctor and the Chief Sea Devil talked peace, but they were thwarted by the interference of the Master and Walker, a civil servant who ordered a depth charge attack. In the end, the Doctor was forced to engineer an explosion which destroyed the Sea Devils' undersea base before any more Sea Devils could be awakened.
The Silurian Icthar reanimated a Sea Devil commando led by Sauvix in 2084 AD, and used them to attack Sea Base Four. His plan was to launch nuclear missiles to provoke a war between the two blocs, and thus eradicate mankind. His efforts were defeated by the Fifth Doctor, who used deadly hexachromite gas to wipe out the Silurians and the Sea Devils.

Series 31 Trailer Breakdown

iO9: breaks down the new series 5 trailer frame by frame. Follow the link and have a look.
If you haven't seen the trailer here it is below:

TARDIS Snowed in?

From telegraph.co.uk: While the rest of Britain's was slipping and sliding around, Doctor Who's TARDIS was flying around as normal for the latest BBC series.

Matt, 26, and new sidekick Karen Gillan, 21, were busy filming on location in Cardiff despite the Welsh capital being covered by a white blanket.

A show insider said: "A bit of snow might stop mere humans but not the Doctor.

"Filming is on a tight schedule and has to keep on going regardless of the weather. Doctor Who can work around anything."

Smith is the eleventh BBC time lord and was filming a scene based in present day in Cardiff Bay.

Smith, who has taken over from David Tennant, was on location with flame-haired assistant Karen Gillan who play new sidekick Amy Pond.

Companions: Ben Jackson

Affiliated with.....First Doctor & Second Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............1966
First appearance....The War Machines
Last appearance.....The Faceless Ones
Portrayed by........Michael Craze

Ben Jackson first appears in the First Doctor serial, The War Machines, when he meets Polly and Dodo in a London nightclub called the Inferno. As an Able Seaman serving in the Royal Navy, aboard the HMS Teazer, Ben is feeling depressed and angry because he has a six-month shore posting while his ship is deployed to the West Indies, but Polly and Dodo try to cheer him up. When Polly is accosted by another patron in the Inferno, Ben comes to her rescue. Eventually, Ben and Polly aid the Doctor in his fight against the rogue artificial intelligence known as WOTAN. Afterward, Ben and Polly are the bearers of the news of Dodo's decision to stay in 1966 to the Doctor, and accidentally get carried away in the TARDIS when they try to return Dodo's key to the time machine.

Ben is a salt-of-the-Earth kind of fellow, dependable, faithful, but prone to be suspicious when kept in the dark or not understanding what was going on. He is very attached to Polly, considering her posh, giving her the nickname of "Duchess" and appointing himself as both her protector and that of the Doctor's. He is present with Polly when the First Doctor regenerates into the Second, and continues to travel with the Second Doctor.

Eventually, the TARDIS finds its way back to 1966 London (in The Faceless Ones) on the very day Ben and Polly had left (although about a year had passed for them). They decide to remain behind to resume their lives without disruption as the Doctor and Jamie travel on.

What happens to Ben after his return to Earth is not known. The Doctor seems to think that Ben will become an Admiral and that Polly will look after Ben, but it is unclear if this is a prediction or simply wishing them well.

Michael Craze (29 November 1942 – 8 December 1998) was a British actor noted for his role of Ben Jackson, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. He played the part from 1966 to 1967 alongside both William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton.

Craze was born in Cornwall. He got into acting by chance as, at the age of twelve, he discovered through Boy Scout Gang Shows that he had a perfect boy soprano voice. This led him to win parts in The King and I and Plain and Fancy, both at Drury Lane, and Damn Yankees at the Coliseum. Once he had left school, he went into repertory and got into TV through his agent. His first television was a show called Family Solicitor for Granada which was followed, amongst others, by a part in ABC TV's 1960 series Target Luna (written by Malcolm Hulke and Eric Price and produced by Sydney Newman).

At the age of twenty Craze wrote, directed and acted in a film called The Golden Head which won an award at the Commonwealth Film Festival in Cardiff. Following Doctor Who, Craze worked on several ITV productions, including one episode (The Last Visitor) of Hammer Films' first TV series Journey to the Unknown in 1968. Other television roles include parts in Dixon of Dock Green and Z-Cars. In the 1980s Michael acted only occasionally and also managed a pub.

He was originally meant to play the role of Krelper in the 1984 Doctor Who story The Caves of Androzani, However this was vetoed by the then producer John Nathan-Turner and the part was recast.

Craze died of a heart attack on 8 December 1998. He had fallen down some steps the previous day while picking up his neighbour's paper for her, and owing to a heart condition, they were unable to operate.

Michael Craze's brother is actor Peter Craze. Coincidentally Peter Craze has also appeared in Doctor Who in a number of guest roles but never worked with his brother on the series.

Craze's name was used by comedians Matt Lucas and David Walliams for a character in their sketch show Little Britain: "Sir Michael Craze" in the programme is a theatrical agent.

Companions: Polly

Affiliated with.....First Doctor & Second Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............1966
First appearance....The War Machines
Last appearance.....The Faceless Ones
Portrayed by........Anneke Wills

Polly first appears in the First Doctor serial, The War Machines, where she is working as a secretary to Professor Brett. Brett develops the artificial intelligence known as WOTAN, and Polly meets the Doctor and Dodo when they come to investigate it. Polly befriends Dodo and takes her to a London nightclub called the Inferno, where they meet Ben Jackson and try to cheer up the merchant seaman. When Polly is accosted by another patron in the Inferno, Ben comes to her rescue. Eventually, Ben and Polly aid the Doctor in his fight against WOTAN when the computer tries to take over the world. They are the bearers of the news of Dodo's decision to stay in 1966 to the Doctor, and accidentally get carried away in the TARDIS when they try to return Dodo's key to the time machine.

Polly, in contrast to Dodo, is a more sophisticated and hip young woman of the 1960s — vivacious, attractive, and alternately shy and aggressive. She and Ben make an odd couple, but she is receptive to Ben's protective urges, and he in turn finds her elegant and posh, giving her the nickname "Duchess". Polly is present with Ben when the First Doctor regenerates into the Second, and continues to travel with the Second Doctor.

Eventually, the TARDIS finds its way back to 1966 London (in The Faceless Ones) on the very day Ben and Polly had left (although about a year had passed for them). They decide to remain behind to resume their lives without disruption as the Doctor and Jamie travel on.

Polly was never given a last name in the series. According to production notes, she was meant to be Polly Wright, but this was not used in case it would be confused with previous companion Barbara Wright. In The Faceless Ones, a double of Polly is named Michelle Leuppi; an apparent mishearing of this and misinterpretation of the context led to some reference works giving Polly the last name of "Lopez". Anneke Wills suggested the name "Bettingham-Smith", after one of her friends. In the Virgin Missing Adventures novel Invasion of the Cat-People by Gary Russell, Wright is expressly given as Polly's last name, as it was supposedly given in Gerry Davis's character breakdown and audition script sample when, as story editor, he and producer Innes Lloyd created Ben and Polly in 1966. The canonicity of the spin-off novels is open to interpretation.

What happens to Polly after her return to Earth is not known. The Doctor seems to think that Ben will become an Admiral and that Polly will look after Ben, but it is unclear if this is a prediction or simply wishing them well.

Anneke Wills (born Anna Katarina Willys 20 October 1941) is a British actress best known for her role as the companion Polly in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

Anneke Wills was born on 20 October 1941, in Berkshire.[1] Her parents Anna and Alaric Willys (she later changed her name to Wills) had planned to buy a house in the South of France but their intentions was ended by the outbreak of World War II. Alaric's gambling debts forced Anna to find varied work while he became a captain in the British Army and an absent figure. Anna was occupied as a companion to a blind aristocrat, gardener, teacher - moving Anneke and her brother Robin around the country.

Wills gained her first role at the age of 11 while she was living on a houseboat in Bray, Berkshire. The film was called Child's Play and she gave the £9 fee to her mother. Deciding she wanted to be an actress she then studied drama at the Arts Educational School in London and quickly became one of the busiest actresses of her generation, early roles included an appearance as Roberta in the second TV version of The Railway Children in 1957.

At 17 she began a relationship with Anthony Newley while working on the TV series The Strange World of Gurney Slade. During the sixties Anneke spent much of her time at the famous Troubadour Coffee Shop and The Establishment, and was part of the so-called Chelsea Set, counting among her close friends Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, The Alberts, Sammy Davis Junior, Angela Douglas and Kenneth More, Mary Quant, and Sarah Miles among others.

In 1966 she took the role of Polly in Doctor Who and appeared in the show into 1967 alongside William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Other television credits include appearances in The Avengers and as Evelyn in Strange Report (1969-70). She left the latter series when it was planned to switch filming to Hollywood.

In 1970 Anneke gave up acting and moved to Norfolk, throwing herself into motherhood and gardening. During this time she travelled to Vietnam and Laos, and spent time at Poona, India, at the ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. She and her son Jasper visited the ashram many times in the 1970s and early 80s.

Wills married actor Michael Gough in 1962, but Gough's infidelity and possessive nature led to the end of their marriage and the couple divorced in 1979. She has remarried twice and lived in California and in an artist's colony on Hornby Island in Canada returning to the UK in the mid-1990s. She is still involved in the worlds of Doctor Who, being a popular guest at conventions, and being employed by the BBC and Big Finish to record various Doctor Who related audio and DVD projects.

The first volume of her autobiography, Self Portrait, was published in 2007 by Hirst Books, and a second volume, Naked followed in 2009.

Companions: Dodo Chaplet

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
First appearance....The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
Last appearance.....The War Machines
Portrayed by........Jackie Lane

Dodo Chaplet is introduced at the end of the serial The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. In that story, the Doctor and Steven travel to 1572 Paris, where they witness the persecution of the city's Huguenot population. Despite befriending a young woman named Anne Chaplet, the Doctor knows he cannot prevent the coming massacre of 10,000 Huguenots, including Anne, by the Catholic French authorities. He therefore leaves in the TARDIS, taking Steven with him. When Steven finds out, he is furious and considers leaving the Doctor while the TARDIS is in 1960s [2] London.

Steven returns at the same time that a young woman wanders into the TARDIS thinking it was a real police box. The Doctor and Steven are taken aback when she introduces herself as Dodo Chaplet and reveals that her grandfather was French. The Doctor speculates that Dodo might be Anne's descendant. As some have pointed out, this would mean Anne lived to have an illegitimate offspring (unless she married a man of the same name).

In her travels with the Doctor, Dodo travels to the far future, unfortunately bringing the common cold with her to infect humanity's descendants; faces the mad games of the Celestial Toymaker; witnesses the gunfight at the O.K. Corral; says good-bye to Steven in The Savages; and is hypnotised by the rogue artificial intelligence WOTAN in The War Machines.

Halfway through that last adventure, she abruptly departs for a rest in the country after being hypnotised, and never reappears. At the story's conclusion Polly (who, with Ben Jackson, took Dodo's place as a companion) explains to the departing Doctor that Dodo has decided to remain in the 20th Century.

Jackie Lane (born 10 July 1941 in Manchester) is an English actress noted for her role as Dodo Chaplet, a companion of the Doctor, in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

She played the part from February to July 1966 alongside William Hartnell as the Doctor.

She went on to become a theatrical agent, representing Tom Baker, who would play the Fourth Doctor in 1974 and Janet Fielding, who would play companion Tegan Jovanka in 1981, who in a strange twist also became an agent, representing the 8th Doctor Paul McGann.

Companions: Sara Kingdom

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............4000
Appears in..........The Daleks' Master Plan
Portrayed by........Jean Marsh

Sara Kingdom is a Space Security Agent, the sister of Bret Vyon, another agent who is aiding the Doctor in trying to defeat the Daleks. Told that Vyon is a traitor by Mavic Chen, the Guardian of the Solar System (who was in league with the Daleks) and ordered to kill whoever is working with him, she shoots her brother and is about to do the same to the Doctor and Steven when they are transported across space to the planet Mira. There she learns, to her horror and grief, that her unquestioning obedience has not only led her to unjustly kill her brother, but also that by doing so she has prevented Vyon from warning Earth of the Dalek plot. She then joins the Doctor in his fight, briefly travelling in the TARDIS to several different locations in space and time as the Doctor and Steven try to return the ship to Kembel for a final confrontation with Mavic Chen and the Daleks.

When the Doctor activates the Time Destructor — a device that accelerates time — as part of his plan to stop the Daleks, he orders his companions back to the TARDIS for their protection. However, Sara follows him, not knowing the nature of his plan but concerned it might fail. As a result, she is caught in the field of the Time Destructor as it rapidly ages everything around it. While the Doctor, being a Time Lord, can withstand the effects, Sara, being human, cannot. As Steven and the Doctor watch helplessly, Sara ages (and is portrayed as an old woman by May Warden) and dies, her remains aging to dust.

Sara is by turns aggressive, independent and ruthless in her pursuit of what was right, a single-mindedness that blinded her to the larger implications of her orders. Meeting the Doctor changes that, and she turns her formidable skill and intellect to the defeat of the Daleks.

Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh (born 1 July 1934) is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott.

Marsh received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Rose Buck in Upstairs, Downstairs in 1975.

Marsh was born in Stoke Newington, London, England, the daughter of Emmeline Susannah Nightingale Poppy (née Bexley), a bar employee and dresser for the theatre, and Henry Charles John Marsh, an outdoor maintenance person and printer's assistant.

Marsh made many appearances on British and American television programmes in the 1950s and 1960s, including The Twilight Zone, playing a robotic companion in the episode "The Lonely" (1959), The Wonderful World of Disney (1961), Gideon's Way (1965), I Spy (1967), The Saint (four episodes between 1964 and 1968) and UFO (1970).

She has appeared several times in the BBC series Doctor Who. She first appeared alongside William Hartnell in the 1965 serial "The Crusade" as Lady Joanna. She returned later that year as companion Sara Kingdom in the 12-part serial "The Daleks' Masterplan". Although the character was killed off at the end of that serial, Marsh reprised the role of Sara Kingdom in the audio plays "Home Truths" in 2008, and "The Drowned World" in 2009. She would also appear in the 1989 television serial "Battlefield", as well as the 2007 audio play "The Wishing Beast". Marsh was featured as Bertha Mason Rochester in the George C. Scott-Susannah York version of Jane Eyre, directed by Delbert Mann. The film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom in 1970 and shown in the United States on NBC Television in 1971.

With Eileen Atkins she created the British period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, and played the role of the house parlourmaid Rose Buck for the duration of the series, from 1971 until 1975. The program was popular in various parts of the world including the United States; Marsh received an Emmy Award for her role in 1975, and was nominated for the same award in 1974 and 1976. She also received two Golden Globe nominations for this role.

After several guest roles in television, she played a regular supporting role in the television series of 9 to 5 in 1982, however the series was not a success.

In film she had a featured role in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972) and played Mrs. Grey in The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the villain in the fantasy films Return to Oz (1985) and Willow (1988). Marsh and Eileen Atkins created a second television series The House of Eliott, which was produced during 1991 and 1992. This time, Marsh did not act in the series, but she did write some of the episodes. In 1994, she starred in a villain role in the Nickelodeon re-make of The Tomorrow People, and appeared in the television productions of Fatherland and The Pale Horse.

From 2000 until 2002, Marsh appeared in the The Ghost Hunter, and in 2007 she played in the West End stage revival of Boeing Boeing at the Comedy Theatre. She also made an appearance in the 2007 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. She appeared as Lizzie in Babycow Production's, Sensitive Skin in 2005 and 2007 alongside Joanna Lumley. She appeared in an episode of BBC Four's Crooked House in December 2008.

Companions: Katarina

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............Ancient Greece
First appearance....The Myth Makers
Last appearance.....The Daleks' Master Plan
Portrayed by........Adrienne Hill

Katarina is introduced in the serial The Myth Makers, which takes place during the siege of Troy. She is a handmaiden of the prophetess Cassandra, and helps the TARDIS crew survive the events of the siege. When Steven is wounded, she helps him into the TARDIS as Vicki decides to stay behind in Troy with the warrior Troilus.

A sweet, simple young woman who cannot really cope with the concept that the universe has suddenly opened up to her, Katarina believes that she is dead, and that the Doctor is a god transporting her to the next life. She refers to the TARDIS as a "temple", and literally worships the Doctor, referring to him as "Lord" (much to his annoyance) and having absolute faith in him.

During The Daleks' Master Plan, Katarina is taken hostage by the escaped prisoner Kirksen, who demands that the Doctor take him to Kembel, a planet taken over by the Daleks. To prevent the Doctor giving in to Kirksen's demands, she chooses to trigger the controls to the airlock she is being held in, propelling both herself and her captor into the vacuum of space.

Despite her brief tenure on the series, Katarina is significant for being the first of the Doctor's companions to die on-screen. However, she would not be the last. In some of the tie-in fiction, her death (and later that of Adric) is portrayed as weighing heavily on the Doctor's mind.

Adrienne Hill (born 22 July 1937 Plymouth, Devon; died 6 October 1997) was a British actress.

In 1965, she appeared in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as Katarina, a companion of the Doctor — who at that time was played by William Hartnell. Katarina was one of the few companions to be killed in the series, and her tenure in the show was brief — appearing in only five episodes in two serials: The Myth Makers and The Daleks' Master Plan.

She participated in the 1985 Children in Need program along with other Doctor Who actors, but was not involved with the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time.

Companions: Steven Taylor

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............Unspecified future
First appearance....The Chase
Last appearance.....The Savages
Portrayed by........Peter Purves

Steven Taylor first appears in the serial The Chase, when the Doctor and his companions, Ian, Barbara and Vicki, find him on the planet Mechanus where he crash-landed two years before. He joins the Doctor and Vicki as a companion in the following serial, The Time Meddler, when they discover that he stowed-away in the TARDIS after having escaped the burning Mechanoid. Steven is a strong-willed individual, who is more capable when there is something physical to do than when there is thinking to be done. He has a finely developed sense of right and wrong, and places a high value on human life.

Steven follows the Doctor through The Daleks' Master Plan, a dark and dangerous adventure that takes the lives of Sara Kingdom and Katarina. He argues with the Doctor when he refuses to prevent the events of The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve. Steven is ready to part company with the Doctor over the deaths that happened, in particular that of a woman named Anne Chaplet. He rejoins the Doctor, however, at the same time that they acquired a new travelling companion, a young woman by the name of Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet, who is apparently a descendant of Anne's.

Steven's journey eventually ends during the The Savages, when he decides to accept the responsibility of leading the combined society of Savages and Elders that is attempting a lasting peace. His life beyond that is not explored in the series.

The exact time period that Steven originally came from is not specified in the television series. However, in The Daleks' Master Plan, set in the year 4000, Steven states that he comes from "thousands of years" before that period.

Steven Moffat, a Doctor Who fan and writer of several episodes of the revived series, named the lead character in his sitcom Coupling (BBC Two, 2000–04) "Steve Taylor", although this was apparently a coincidence. Moffat later explained that although he was aware of the Doctor Who companion, the "Steve" was chosen because the character was based upon himself, and the "Taylor" to suggest a thematic link to the character of Mark Taylor in his earlier sitcom Joking Apart.
Peter Purves (born 10 February 1939) is an English television presenter and actor.

Purves was born in New Longton, near Preston, Lancashire, England, and was educated at the independent Arnold School in Blackpool, he had originally planned to go into teaching, training at Alsager College of Education, but began to act with the Barrow-in-Furness Repertory Company instead. He also attended Manchester Polytechnic.

He first became known to television audiences in the mid-1960s as Steven Taylor, one of the early time-travelling companions in the programme Doctor Who, when the Doctor was played by William Hartnell.[1] After leaving Doctor Who, Purves became a regular presenter on the children's magazine programme Blue Peter from 1967 to 1978. Purves maintained his connection to Doctor Who throughout his time on Blue Peter, often hosting special features on the programme and interviewing the actors. These included many clips from episodes which are otherwise now lost.

Purves co-presented Blue Peter first with John Noakes and Valerie Singleton and then with Noakes and Lesley Judd, during the programme's so called 'golden age'. After Noakes, Purves is the second longest serving male Blue Peter presenter. He was so closely associated with the programme, "the sensible one", that he found his association difficult to shake off. Purves moved on to other jobs as a presenter including Blue Peter Special Assignment, "Stopwatch" and "Going Places" and then later a spell as the front man for darts events on the BBC and as presenter of the long-running BBC1 motorbike trials series Kick Start.

Companions: Vicki

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species.............Human
Home planet.........Earth
Home era............25th century
First appearance....The Rescue
Last appearance.....The Myth Makers
Portrayed by........Maureen O'Brien

Vicki first appears in the serial The Rescue, a survivor of a spaceship crash on the planet Dido and menaced by the monstrous Koquillion when she meets the Doctor and his companions Ian and Barbara. Still coping with his recent parting from his granddaughter Susan at the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Doctor invites the teenage girl to join the TARDIS crew.

Vicki is in many respects an ordinary teenage girl. She is a surrogate granddaughter to the Doctor and takes care of him like her own grandfather. She rarely takes the initiative, relying instead first on Ian and Barbara and then Steven Taylor, whom she treats like an older brother. Like many, however, her travels with the Doctor change and mature her. She is the one who persuades the Doctor to let Ian and Barbara use a Dalek time machine to return to their own time in The Chase.

Vicki eventually falls in love with the warrior Troilus when the TARDIS landed during the siege of Troy (The Myth Makers). After making sure that Steven and the Doctor will be all right without her, she decides to remain with Troilus, eventually passing into legend as Cressida, the name given to her by King Priam.

Maureen O'Brien (born 29 June 1943 in Liverpool) is an English actress and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, although she has appeared in many other television programmes as well.

She played the part of Vicki in 38 episodes from January 2 to November 6, 1965. In 2007, she reprised the role of Vicki in the audio drama Frostfire. In the same year, O'Brien had played a different Doctor Who role, that of Agnes Landen in the fourth series of the Big Finish Productions audio play Dalek Empire co-starring with Noel Clarke who played Kade. The year before in 2006, she took on the role of Miss Alice Bultitude in Year of the Pig, alongside Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.

She played unit general manager Elizabeth Straker in the second season of Casualty (1987). She has made guest appearances in The Duchess of Duke Street ("Trouble and Strife"), Taggart ("Forbidden Fruit"), Cracker ("The Big Crunch"), A Touch of Frost ("Private Lives") and Heartbeat.

O'Brien has also written a number of detective novels Close-Up on Death (1989), Deadly Reflection (1993), Mask of Betrayal (1998), Dead Innocent (1999), Revenge (2001) and Unauthorised Departure (2003); all featuring the character of Detective Inspector John Bright.

Companions: Ian Chesterton

Affiliated with......First Doctor
Species..............Human
Home planet..........Earth
Home era.............1963
First appearance.....An Unearthly Child
Last appearance......The Chase
Portrayed by.........William Russell

Ian Chesterton is a science teacher at the Coal Hill School and works with Barbara Wright, a history teacher. One of their students, Susan Foreman, the granddaughter of the Doctor, shows unusually advanced knowledge of science and history. Attempting to solve the mystery of this "unearthly child," Ian and Barbara follow Susan back home to a junkyard, where they hear her voice coming from what appears to be a police box. When they investigate further, they discover that the police box exterior hides the much larger interior of a time machine known as the TARDIS, and are whisked away on an adventure in time and space with the Doctor and Susan.

Ian provides the series with an action-oriented figure, able to perform the physical tasks that the elderly Doctor can not. His concern, above all, is for the safety of the TARDIS crew, and in the early stories he often takes issue with the Doctor's habit of placing the group in harm's way just to satisfy his own curiosity. The chemistry between Barbara and himself is also evident, although the nature of their relationship is never made explicit in the television series.

Ian shows a surprising breadth of skills throughout his tenure with the Doctor. He manages to create fire (An Unearthly Child), rides a horse, knows how to fight with swords (The Romans) and is knowledgeable about pressure points that can paralyze an opponent (The Aztecs). He is also fiercely protective of Barbara, going on a lone mission to rescue her from Saracens in The Crusade. In that story, he is also knighted by King Richard I of England as "Sir Ian of Jaffa," although presumably he would be unable to use that title in his own time. After many travels, Ian and Barbara eventually use a Dalek time machine to get home, albeit two years after their disappearance and presumably with much explaining to do to their friends and families.

The character of Ian was intended by the production team to return for a guest appearance in the 1983 Doctor Who story Mawdryn Undead, but this plan fell through when Russell proved to be unavailable. However, in 1999 Russell did return to the part for the BBC Worldwide video release of The Crusade, two of the four episodes of which are missing from the archives. Russell provided linking narration between the existing episodes in character as an aged Ian Chesterton reminiscing about the events of the story.


William Russell (born Russell William Enoch on 19 November 1924 in Sunderland, England) is a British actor, mainly known for his television work.
In 1963, Russell played the part of Ian Chesterton, one of the four original cast of Doctor Who, starring opposite William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright and Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman. His first involvement in the series took the form of the untransmitted pilot episode, which was eventually reshot and aired as 'An Unearthly Child'. He stayed with the series for the entirety of its first season and much of the second, departing alongside Hill in the penultimate story of the run, 'The Chase'.

Four decades on from his first appearance, Russell continues his involvement with Doctor Who, having lent his voice as a narrator to several of the audio book releases of the 'lost' 1960s episodes. He has also appeared in 'The Game', one of the continuing Doctor Who audio stories produced by Big Finish. More recently, Russell has recorded readings of some of the Target Novelisations of Doctor Who episodes, also for CD release.

In the late 1990s Russell returned to the role of Ian for the VHS release of the story 'The Crusade', of which episodes two and four are currently lost. He recorded several in-character scenes to camera, which helped to bridge the gap between the existing episodes.

Russell has also contributed to the Doctor Who DVD range, having participated in several audio commentaries and on-screen interviews since 2002.

Russell appeared in British films from 1950 onwards, appearing in well-known productions such as They Who Dare (1954), The Man Who Never Was (1956) and The Great Escape (1963). He also later had a minor role in Superman: The Movie (1978) and Death Watch with Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton (1979).

His big break was the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot on ITV in 1956, which for sale to the NBC network in the U.S. became the first British television series to be shot in colour. Following this, he won a role in Doctor Who as one of the Doctor's companions, science teacher Ian Chesterton, appearing in the bulk of the first two seasons of the programme.

Companions: Barbara Wright

Affiliated with.....First Doctor
Species ...............Human
Home planet.......Earth
Home era............1963
First
appearance.........An Unearthly Child
Last
appearance.........The Chase
Portrayed by......Jacqueline Hill

Barbara Wright is a history teacher at the Coal Hill School, working with science teacher Ian Chesterton. One of their students, Susan Foreman, the granddaughter of the Doctor, shows an unusually advanced knowledge of science and history. Attempting to solve the mystery of this "unearthly child", Ian and Barbara follow Susan back to a junkyard, where they hear her voice coming from what appears to be a police box. When they investigate further, they discover that the police box exterior hides the much larger interior of a time machine known as the TARDIS, and are whisked away on an adventure in time and space with the Doctor and Susan.

Barbara is a strong-willed woman and provides a maternal figure to Susan. She is frequently the only person who can stand up to the First Doctor's cantankerous personality. The chemistry between Ian and herself is also evident, although the nature of their relationship is never made explicit in the television series.

In the serial The Aztecs, Barbara is hailed as the reincarnation of the ancient high priest Yetaxa by the Aztec civilization. Despite the Doctor's protests that she cannot change history, she attempts to turn the Aztecs away from their practice of human sacrifice. In The Reign of Terror, she establishes a friendship with Leon Colbert and is distraught when he is killed. After many travels, Ian and Barbara eventually use a Dalek time machine to get home, albeit two years after their disappearance and presumably with much explaining to do to their friends and families.

Jacqueline Hill (17 December 1929 – 18 February 1993) was a British actress best known for her role as Barbara Wright in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. As the history teacher of the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright was the first of the companions to appear in the show in 1963, with Hill speaking the series' first words. She continued to play the role for nearly two years, leaving the show in 1965 but returning for an appearance in the 1980 Doctor Who story Meglos, as the priestess Lexa.

Hill trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made her stage debut in London's West End in The Shrike. Many more roles followed, including, on television, Shop Window, Fabian of the Yard and An Enemy of the People. In 1958 she married the director Alvin Rakoff, having the previous year appeared in his BBC adaptation of Rod Serling's American television play Requiem for a Heavyweight.[1] That production had starred former bit-part actor Sean Connery, who had been cast by Rakoff at Hill's suggestion, as she felt he would be popular with female viewers.

Hill was asked to play Barbara Wright in Doctor Who after she and producer Verity Lambert, whom she knew socially, discussed the role at a party. Soon after leaving the series in 1965 she gave up acting to raise a family, daughter Sasha and son John [2]. Hill resumed her career in 1979 and gained further TV credits in, amongst other programmes, Tales of the Unexpected and as Lady Capulet in the BBC Television Shakespeare version of Romeo and Juliet in 1978.

Jacqueline Hill died of cancer in 1993.

The Brits Vote

Pulled this from: prinside.com, it lists some top votes from Brits on Doctor Who, though I don't agree with some of the results, there was one surprise in the list, it is a clear trend that what is new is hip.

Most popular Doctor Who
1st David Tennant 45.7%
2nd Tom Baker 19.7%
3rd Jon Pertwee 10.65%
4th Christopher Ecclestone 7.05%
5th Peter Davison 4.75%
6th Colin Baker 3.25%
7th Patrick Troughton 2.7%
8th Sylvester McCoy 2.65%
9th William Hartnell 2.6%
10th Paul McGann 0.95%

Who the British Public would like to have seen become the next male
Doctor Who
1st Ewan McGregor 21.1%
2nd Kris Marshall 9.6%
3rd Alan Davies 8.85%
4th Russell Brand 8.2%
5th Stephen Fry 7.9%
6th Matt Smith (the next Doctor) 7.7%
7th Marc Warren 5.35%
8th James Corden 4.45%
9th David Walliams 4.4%
10th Adrian Lester 4.3%

Who the British Public would like to see become the first female Doctor Who
1st Catherine Tate 15.95%
2nd Anna Friel 13.15%
3rd Jo Brand 10.35%
4th Michelle Ryan 9.95%
5th Emma Watson 8.40%
6th Sarah Parish 6.35%
7th Amanda Holden 5.3%
8th Ruth Jones 5.05%
9th Kym Marsh 4.6%
10th Sarah Harding 4.3%

Most popular Doctor Who assistant
1st Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) 36.55%
2nd Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) 11.65%
3rd Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) 9.75%
4th K-9 (the voice of John Leeson) 7.75%
5th Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) 6.15%
6th Astrid Peth (Kylie Minogue) 4.35%
7th Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) 4.05%
8th Lady Christina De Sousa (Michelle Ryan) 3.50%
9th Ace (Sophie Aldred) 2.9%
10th Mel Bush (Bonnie Langford) 2.75%

Matt Smith: Hard to keep secret.

Found this from thedailyrecord: It must have been one of the hardest things new Doctor Who Matt Smith has ever had to do...
He sat with his friend and watched David Tennant playing the Time Lord on TV - but could not reveal that he had landed the role of the new Doctor.
Matt, 27, said: "It was a complete nightmare not being able to tell anyone.
"It's like any secret - it bubbles up inside you and the more you try to keep it, the more mad you get and the more you try to suppress it.
"I would be sitting in my flat watching TV and Doctor Who would be on with my flatmate there.
"I would have loved to share the fact that I was the new Doctor but I couldn't."
Matt admits the pressure of not telling anyone got too much and last year he had to tell his father.
He said: "I was going mad. My Dad was rather flabbergasted. When I told him, he laughed. He was excited, elated and very proud."

Creature from the Pit

The British Board of Film Classification has cleared the Fourth Doctor story The Creature from the Pit for release on DVD.The story, originally broadcast in the Autumn of 1979, stars Tom Baker as The Doctor, along with Lalla Ward as Romana and David Brierley as the voice of K9. Others in the cast include Myra Frances as Lady Adrast, Eileen Way as Karela and Geoffrey Bayldon as Organon.

This is Jeopardy

Picked this up from gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com and thought it was neat. Just 3 days after his debut on BBC America, the Eleventh Doctor turned up on the quiz show Jeopardy! The $800 question in the 1st round, under the category "Is This a Rerun?" was: "Matt Smith is the latest actor to be this Sci-fi Doctor, previously played by Peter Davison and Tom Baker". All three of the contestants appeared to know the answer.

New Look for Doctor Who Magazine

With the new look to Doctor Who Magazine, the publication is reporting the writers for Matt Smith's first year. The magazine confirms the writers for Matt Smith's first series as the Doctor.
They Include: Lead writer Steven Moffat who will write six of the thirteen episodes. Joining him are...Chris Chibnall who is writing two episodes and Mark Gatiss,(The Unquiet Dead for Series One and The Idiot's Lantern for Series Two. He later went on to appear in the Third Series story The Lazarus Experiment.) Toby Whithouse, (School Reunion) Gareth Roberts, (The Shakespeare Code for Series Three and The Unicorn and the Wasp for Series Four. He co-wrote Planet of the Dead with Russell T Davies.) Richard Curtis and Simon Nye all writing one episode each.

Doctor Who Series 30.5: Waters of Mars

While wandering the Martian landscape in his spacesuit, the Doctor is detained by the inhabitants of the human colony Bowie Base One, under the command of Captain Adelaide Brooke. During his interrogation, he learns that the date is 21 November 2059. According to future history, on this day the base was destroyed in an explosion and Brooke and her crew were all killed. This event is fixed in time, and the Doctor, unwilling to interfere, decides that he must leave Mars.

However, a crisis is developing: two colonists, Andy Stone and Maggie Cain, have been infected by a strange life form which causes their bodies to gush copious amounts of water. The virus soon spreads, with Andy passing on the condition to Tarak Ital. After Maggie is safely secured in the medical wing, the organism present in her body reveals its desire to reach Earth, a planet rich in water. The crew decide that it is too dangerous to remain, and plan to evacuate in an escape shuttle. Before departing himself, the Doctor informs Adelaide that she must die today, on Mars, if history is to unfold as it should, but also tells her that her death will inspire her descendants to travel further into space and establish peaceful relations with extraterrestrial species. As the Doctor is making his way back to the TARDIS, Maggie breaks out of isolation and infects Ed Gold, the shuttle pilot and Adelaide's second-in-command. Before the condition takes a hold over him, Ed manages to trigger the shuttle's self-destruct mechanism, which traps the infection on Mars but also leaves the surviving crew with no means of escape. Witnessing the explosion, the Doctor is overcome with defiance against time itself and turns back to save the others.

Andy and Tarak mount Bowie Base's outer shell and exude water, which cascades into the control centre and infects Roman Groom and Steffi Ehrlich. Since it seems inevitable that history will follow its set course, Adelaide activates the base's self-destruct sequence. However, the Doctor uses a remote-controlled robot, GADGET, to access the TARDIS, operate its controls and transport the ship into the control centre, rescuing Adelaide, Yuri Kerenski and Mia Bennett before the base is destroyed.

The TARDIS materialises outside Adelaide's house on Earth. Yuri and Mia are shocked by their experiences and depart. Alone with Adelaide, the Doctor explains his reasoning for interfering in set events: as the last of the Time Lords, he is no longer bound by the laws of his race and has total authority over time. Proudly declaring himself the "Time Lord Victorious", he vows that with this power, he can now ensure the survival of pivotal figures such as Adelaide as well as "little people" such as Yuri and Mia. Scolding the Doctor for his new-found arrogance and asserting that "the Time Lord Victorious is wrong", Adelaide returns home and commits suicide. The Doctor's efforts at changing the timeline are mostly undone, although Adelaide dies on Earth rather than Mars, Yuri and Mia live through the events of the episode and the exact circumstances surrounding Bowie Base's destruction are now known to Earth.

The Doctor is overcome with emotion, realising that his hubris will have consequences. Ood Sigma appears in the street. Visibly shaken, the Doctor asks him whether he has finally gone too far — whether the time has come for him to die. Unresponsive, Sigma vanishes, and the Doctor staggers back into the TARDIS to the ominous sound of the Cloister Bell. With a defiant "No!" he begins to operate the controls.

Doctor Who Series 30.5: The End of Time pt 1&2

Part One
The Doctor, aware of prophecies that warn that his death is near and that "he will knock four times", travels to the Ood Sphere after the events of "The Waters of Mars". The Ood warn him of the Master's return, but that this is only the start of something much larger emerging from the darkness. The Doctor returns to Earth on Christmas Eve, too late to stop a cult dedicated to the Master from restoring him. However, Lucy Saxon sacrificed herself to inject a component into the ritual that disrupted the process, leaving the Master with superhuman powers but an unending hunger as his life force drains away. The Doctor encounters Wilfred Mott, curious as to how the man found him so easily, and explains his fear of death, describing regeneration as a form of death. The Doctor tracks down the Master, but the Master subdues him with his new powers, and forces him to telepathically listen to the sound of drums in his head. The Doctor realizes the drums are not a product of the Master's insanity, but before he can ask more, the Master is captured by troops under the employ of billionaire Joshua Naismith.

On Christmas Day, Wilf receives a warning from a mysterious woman in white about needing to take up arms, and retrieves an old service pistol. He meets the Doctor with a book given to him by Donna Noble, authored by Naismith, giving them a clue to the Master's location. At Naismith's estate, they discover Naismith has recovered an alien device, naming it the "Immortality Gate" in hopes that the Master can make it operational and give his daughter Abigail immortality.


The Doctor encounters two Vinvocci aliens working undercover, attempting to salvage the gate which is a Vinvocci medical device designed to heal populations of entire planets based on a genetic template. Before the Doctor can stop him, the Master alters the programming of the device, escapes his bonds and jumps into the Gate. All of humanity (apart from Wilf, whom the Doctor has put inside an isolated chamber, and Donna, who is still part Time Lord) are transformed into clones of the Master; the Master proclaims humanity has been supplanted by the 'Master race', and he and his doppelgangers taunt the Doctor in his defeat.

Part One ends revealing that the Narrator, who has appeared throughout the episode warning of the end of humanity on Christmas Day, is the Time Lord President, addressing a chamber full of other Time Lords, and proclaiming that this day will be "the day the Time Lords returned".

Part Two
The Doctor and Wilf are saved from the Master by the Vinvocci, and go into hiding in their orbiting ship. The Master becomes aware of the "sound of drums" amplified by the billions of clones, recognizing it as a signal calling to him. When The Master discovers a fallen Gallifreyan diamond, a Whitepoint Star, he uses it to further enhance the signal and creates a link to the Time Lords. These elements are revealed as part of the Time Lords' plan to escape from the last days of the Time Locked Time War before they are killed by the Doctor. The Master broadcasts the Time Lords' impending return across the globe, forcing the Doctor to return to Earth. He grabs Wilf's gun, jumps out of the ship's hatch, and plummets right through the glass roof of Naismith's house.

The Doctor arrives too late, just as the Time Lord Council appears. The Master plans to use the Gate now to imprint himself on all Time Lords, but the Time Lord President stops him and undoes the previous change by the Gate, restoring humanity. The President then reveals that, now freed of the Time Lock, the Time Lords will end time and creation itself to live eternally as pure consciousness. The Doctor tells The Master that that is why he had to stop the Time Lords at the end of the Time War, as he knew of their plan. Gallifrey begins to materialise by the Earth, and the Doctor reveals that it will soon be followed by all the other horrors from Time War's end.

Torn between killing the Master or killing the President, the Doctor catches the gaze of one of the women on the Council, the same woman in white whom Wilf has seen. Inspired, the Doctor uses Wilf's gun to shatter the diamond that maintains the link. On the verge of being drawn back into the Time Lock, the President prepares to kill the Doctor, but the Master, furious that he has been manipulated since a child, attacks the President in a final act of revenge. The Time Lords and Gallifrey are drawn back into the Time Lock. The fate of the Master, who also seemingly vanishes into the Lock, is unclear.

The Doctor enjoys only a brief moment's relief at surviving before he hears four knocks, the sound which will precede his death. He turns around to find Wilfred, having returned to help the Doctor, still trapped in an isolation chamber which will soon become flooded with lethal radiation; only by self-sacrifice can he be freed. The Doctor hesitates and rages about his fate, but concludes he may have lived too long; he releases Wilfred, and suffers a massive dose of radiation poisoning.


Although he survives initially, the healing of the Doctor's wounds shows that his regeneration has started. He takes Wilfred home and brief scenes show him fleetingly visiting several past companions. The Doctor collapses near the TARDIS after the last of these goodbyes, but Ood Sigma appears and says the Universe will sing him to his sleep, and remarks "this song is ending, but the story never ends". Pushed on by this, the Doctor reaches the TARDIS and flies it away from the Earth. Not wishing to change, the Doctor completes his regeneration in an unusually violent manner with the TARDIS windows shattering and the console room bursting into flames. The newly-regenerated Eleventh Doctor explores his new body before eventually recognising that the TARDIS is hurtling back to Earth, taking the controls and gleefully shouting "Geronimo!"

BBC Behind Doctor Who

Walesonline is reporting: David Tennant's popular tenure of the Tardis may have ended but the BBC last night said it remains “hugely committed” to the Doctor Who brand.

The Scottish star’s final outing as the Time Lord attracted more than 10 million viewers on New Year’s Day.

But it also marked the end of an era for the popular sci-fi series, as writer Russell T Davies joined Tennant in severing their links with Doctor Who.

The pair have been integral to the show’s recent success and have been widely hailed for reviving a sleeping giant.

Matt Smith, a 27-year-old Englishman, has taken over as the 11th Doctor.

Tennant’s final appearance on New Year’s Day was the show’s third most viewed installment, but BBC chiefs yesterday predicted an even brighter future for the Doctor.

Julian Payne, head of communications at BBC Vision, told the Western Mail it was a “fantastically exciting” time for fans.

“Doctor Who has regeneration at its very core, and it’s what provides the show with its longevity,” he said.

“We view it as a very exciting opportunity for the show. We remain hugely committed to the brand of Doctor Who in all its forms, and we have a wonderful new team in place who are very excited about taking the show on new adventures.”

The Regeneration - David Tennant to Matt Smith

Matt Smith Spring 2010